GRAND BLANC, Mich. — Daniel Chopra's tendency to be wild off the tee and accurate from the rough led Todd Hamilton's caddie to give him a nickname at the Buick Open.

"You're Rambo," he said.

Rambo?

"Yeah, you're lethal from the trees" Chopra recalled the caddie saying.

Now, he has another moniker: Buick Open third-round leader.

Chopra shot a 4-under 68 yesterday to reach 16 under at Warwick Hills and take a two-shot lead into the final round. He made a 15-foot putt for birdie on the last hole after Dudley Hart bogeyed it to earn a cushion.

"It makes my job a little easier, but not a lot," Chopra said.

Hart (70), Bubba Watson (68) and Woody Austin (69) were 14 under.

"Luckily, none of the leaders went low," Austin said. "So there wasn't a big separation."

Second-round leader Bo Van Pelt (73) was another shot back along with Kenny Perry (67), the highest-ranked player in a lackluster field that includes just three of the top 30 players in the world.

Chopra said any of the 10 players who are 12 under or better have a chance to win at Warwick Hills, one of the easier courses on the PGA Tour.

"It's going to be an absolute shootout," he predicted.

Defending champion Brian Bateman, who missed the cut, is the only 54-hole leader at the Buick Open who did not go on to win in the last seven years.

Since winning the PGA Tour's season-opening event and tying for 32nd the next week, Chopra hasn't fared better than a tie for 33rd and he's missed six cuts.

"Treading water," he explained.

If the 34-year-old Swede, who sports a belt buckle shaped like his country's flag, can hold off the wave of challengers today he will move a step closer to playing in the Ryder Cup.

"I'm one of the players now that has a great opportunity to get in," he said.

Chopra was alone atop the leaderboard for the first time at the ninth hole when Hart had his first bogey of the tournament.

Hart pulled back into a tie with Chopra with a birdie at 16, where he got off to a good start with a 308-yard drive in the middle of the fairway. An errant drive set up trouble at 18, though, and he would've had to make a 31-foot putt just to stay within a stroke.

Hart has won twice on the PGA Tour, with the last victory coming in 2000 at the Honda Classic. His highlight this year was in February, when he had a third-place finish at Pebble Beach.

Hart missed the last seven months of the 2007 season after a softball-sized tumor was discovered in his wife's lung. She had the tumor and two-thirds of her lung removed last May, but it turned out to be a benign mass. He returned to the tour this year under a family medical exemption and has already made enough money to regain his card.

Chopra was wild off the tee yesterday — hitting just three of 14 fairways — but responded well enough to hit 13 of 18 greens.

"I have a good imagination and can hit trundlers and cuts and hooks and find ways to get it on the green," he said. "As long as you give me a swing and some kind of a gap, I'm pretty good at finding it."

PGA EUROPEAN TOUR

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Spanish qualifier Pablo Larrazabal shot a 4-under-par 67 yesterday and held a three-stroke lead after three rounds of the French Open.

He was at 11-under 202, with Scotland's Colin Montgomerie (68) and Denmark's Soren Hansen (67) sharing second place.

"I hit the ball great," Larrazabal said. "I missed only two or three fairways."

Montgomerie, who won the French Open in 2000, was disappointed about dropping two strokes in the last four holes on Le Golf National's Albatross Course.

"But I've given myself a chance," he said.

England's David Lynn, who was tied with Larrazabal after two rounds, had a 71 and was four strokes off the pace. He was even with countryman Lee Westwood, who shot a 69.

FUTURES DURAMED TOUR

HAMMOND, Ind. — Australian Sarah-Jane Kenyon finished 16 holes at even par to take the lead before darkness suspended second-round play of the Horseshoe Casino Classic at Lost Marsh Golf Course yesterday.

Kenyon leads the field at 1-under par through 34 holes. Song Yi Choi of Seoul, South Korea, completed her round at even-par 72 and is the clubhouse leader at 144.

Kailua's Bridget Dwyer shot 74—153, Maui's Shayna Miyajima was at 78—157, while the Big Island's Leah Whiting was at 86—160.